Update #134 follows on the release of the Xeno Hunter with new updates to the enemy ship AI, a new rank 15 Talent for Mechanics with a brand new ... mechanic ... balance changes to +Armor % buffs, gear and the Xeno Hunter and simplified rules for new game officer skill bonuses.
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Enemy Ship AI
While fighters and carriers are still a ways out, we are making tons of underlying changes and improvements to major core systems in preparation for their arrival. With Update #134, we have finished rebuilding the enemy ship AI decision tree and decision weighting to be more fluid to the evolving situation and more fun and challenging. Across the board, the enemy captain's ability to weigh their next move against their desire to escape, advance or board, along with the conditions of their ship, health, crew, weapons, engines and buffs or debuffs has been improved. You should find the enemy captains making smarter and more reactive moves.
This has also allowed us to squash a set of bugs or pure mistakes that the enemy AI was making -- such as using Twitch Surge and then retreating or using Fast Getaway and then advancing or attempting to board without a ready boarding party.
Mechanic's Flawless Reset
We've also added anew ability to the Mechanic's Talent list with "Flawless Reset". This rank 15 Talent is capable of purging 1 to 3 debuffs from enemy Talents which were previously irremovable, such as Scattershot, Raking Fire or Bombardment. The chance to get up to 3 debuffs is based on your Mechanic's Resilience.
Simplified Starting Bonuses
With Update #134, we've removed all RNG from the starting Skill bonuses for your ship's first round of officers. They are granted the same bonuses every time -- for example your Doctor always gains +4 Doctor and +2 Evasion. The bonuses given to these officers are above average, another reason to consider keeping them. This change is also a big boon to new starting players who will now find that their ship has an improved Doctor, Tactics, Command and Intimidate Skill Pool thanks to preset officer bonuses.
Xeno Hunter and Balance
We've fixed some Xeno Hunter issues -- the weird trick with mutating gear, changed Launch Grenade to be Initiative 16 (sorry, we tried!) and got Macabre Harvest to work properly with Mission xeno fights.
In addition, we've reduced the power of all crew combat buffs and gear that were adding 20% or higher Armor bonus. These have all been paired down a bit, making it more of an investment of gear slots and Initiative to stack absolutely OP armor.
Thanks to everyone leaving a review!
v2.4.81 - 2/13/2019
- Added new rank 15 Mechanic Talent "Flawless Reset" removes from 1 to 3 debuffs from enemy ship based on Resilience roll
- Improved enemy ship AI's Talent intelligence when picking Talents to use
- Better control over ship component repair, mid-battle healing and morale restore, engine protection, purging crippling effects
- Fixed issue where enemy AI would incorrectly use Twitch Surge when attempting to flee
- Reduced highest range Armor buffs in gears and Talents (Fading Shot, Infliction Rage, Unstoppable Force, Resolute Hound, Unfailing Stand, Cadovast Weave all reduced to 20%)
- Increased Xeno Hunter's "Launch Grenade" Talent to 16 Inititiave cost
- Fixed bug preventing Xeno Hunter's "Macabre Harvest" Talent from working on Mission combats against xeno
- Fixed bug where enemy AI in crew combat would incorrectly use Talents that require but end Stealth Mode
- Officers in new games have set Skill bonuses, all RNG removed (Doctor's have +4 Doctor, +2 Evasion, etc)
- Fixed bug where Prime Pilgrimage Missions could route to starting world (Mok Prime to Mok Prime)
- Fixed click through and scroll issues with crew combat selection screen when detail pane is shown
- Fixed story bugs with Nikolai